In the two years it has been in operation, RENEW has reached more than 700 students at four schools in Tanzania. It has increased accountability in education and has helped students realize they don’t need to ignore their passions, according to Rubin and Mwakapango.

Next month, the pair will launch a pilot program right here in Phoenix. In the pilot, they will be partnering with Joanie Sirek of Arizonans for Children who will choose the 20 camp participants, and Christina Wehry of Happiness Untangled, a mindfulness based stress reduction practice in San Diego, who is helping to develop the curriculum.

Looking forward, Rubin and Mwakapango hope to initiate the program in six schools in Arizona in 2016. But their real long-term goal is to create an international movement.

“We see this as a new global model for change,” Rubin says. “Really a model for youth-led development but also personal development that we think is both needed and can work anywhere.”

All Arizonans, young and old, can help further RENEW. Besides just a donation, anyone can purchase a t-shirt, which not only helps the organization financially, but also helps promote the project. More than anything though, RENEW needs volunteers who are willing to be mentors for the duration of the program and long after it’s finished.

“Who knows what you’re capable of more than yourself?” Mwakapango asks. “No one. Nobody. It’s just you … You are the change that you want to see.”

RENEW will be hosting a fundraising dinner tomorrow, Wednesday, June 17 at Karma Café in Sedona. The event will start at 6 p.m. and a $30 ticket includes appetizers, dinner and the presentation. For more information, visit renewchange.org.